A three game win streak came to an end at Canal Park Friday night. The Akron Aeros were unable to hold the Bowie Baysox offense, losing 8-2. Pitching revealed itself as the Achilles heel for the Aeros during the first game of the series against Bowie.

On Thursday, Matt LaPorta came back to action in a big way, while one of the top pitching prospects in the Indians farm system had a huge day in Akron. On the opposite side, there was a rough outing in Columbus, but the bullpen was able to limit the damage. Contributor Andrew Zajac recaps all the minor league action from around the organization and takes you Around the Farm, after the jump...

On Thursday morning, the Aeros completed their series against Altoona with a 4-1 win. Akron took three out of four in the series against the Curve, but the story of the day was the pitching of Tribe prospect Danny Salazar. In six innings, Salazar allowed a single hit, two walks, and struck out twelve Curve batters on the way to his second victory of the season.

In today’s week ending edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the blazing hot return of Low-A Lake County outfielder LeVon Washington, what the plan is for him, and what areas he is making some strides. He also recaps Double-A Akron first baseman Chun Chen’s impressive month and looks at when and how he can be promoted to Triple-A Columbus, shares tons of comments from the front office on several position players at Akron, reviews the great Double-A debut by Will Roberts, the good recovery Tyler Holt has made after some early struggles, the growing legend of Anthony Santander, and more.

What could top another dominating day from the man known as #WashTime, the top prospect in the system continuing to make his case for a quick promotion to Double-A, and even a former top prospect doing his best to mash his way back into the major league picture? How about winning a game in extra innings at the plate and behind it? To find out who our late-inning hero is tonight and to find the rest of the action from around the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik as he goes Around The Farm.

Despite a late comeback bid from Altoona, the Akron Aeros were able to secure their 12th win of the season 5-4. Altoona started their late inning rally in the eighth off of Aeros pitcher Bryce Stowell. A Chen two-run home run gave the Aeros a 5-2 lead in the seventh, and thanks to Stowell, that was a lead they would not relinquish. The Aeros move to 12-14 on the season, while the Curve fell to 11-15 after the Wednesday night loss.

Today is the first “stock watch” of the 2013 season for players in the Indians’ minor league system. This report is a snapshot of a few players up and down the system and how their value may be decreasing or increasing as prospects. In today's report, Tony looks at all four levels in the Indians system and touches on the likes of Jeremy Hermida, Mike McDade, Preston Guilmet, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Moncrief, Jerrud Sabourin, Jordan Smith, Dorssys Paulino, Nellie Rodriguez and more.

The Akron Aeros began to turn around their season over the past week, winning four out of six and moving their overall record to 10-14. Sure, the team is still in last place in the Eastern League, but they did begin digging themselves out from their slow start. The pitching was a big key for Akron, though they also got some key contributions from the offense. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down and go Launching Off With The Aeros.

In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings this week, Tony takes a look at several pitchers throughout the organization. Right-hander Jordan Cooper has used last season’s late success as a springboard to a good start to this season and is starting to round into form as a solid pitching prospect, and he touches on where he has improved and what kind of future he may have. In addition to that he provides an update and outlook on Diasuke Matsuzaka, shares some comments made by the front office this past week on the likes of T.J. House, Trey Haley, Austin Adams and others, and also some insight and updates on the progress of the likes of Giovanni Soto, Bret Brach, Jacob Lee, Luis DeJesus and others.

You could forgive the Akron Aeros for assuming that Sunday's four home run barrage was a sign that their offense was heating up and about to take off. There is no way that their huge effort would be followed by a complete shutdown, right? Sometimes baseball just makes no sense. The Aeros (10-14) lost 2-0 Monday to the Altoona Curve (11-13) in the first game of a four game series at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Curve starter Stolmy Pimentel (2-0, 2.74 FIP) held the Aeros down for seven innings, striking out five while lowering his ERA to a miniscule 0.30.

The IBI Hot List is back for another week and ranks the hot (and some cold) performances in the Indians system over the past week. Last week saw LeVon Washington return with a fury with five hits on Saturday, Diasuke Matsuzaka looked to turn a corner, Preston Guilmet is squarely on the big league radar, Jordan Cooper is rising, Cord Phelps’ struggles continue, and much more. Tony ranks the good and bad performances and provides some commentary on each player.

The Akron Aeros used four home runs to slug their way past the Binghamton Mets 7-5 Sunday afternoon at NYSEG Stadium, winning their second consecutive series. Akron is up to a 10-13 record now after a fairly rough start to the season. Heading into Sunday, the Aeros only owned a paltry .101 ISO and 12 home runs as a team, but from the most likely to the least likely, they broke out in a big way against Binghamton (12-11).

BINGHAMTON- The Binghamton Mets snapped the Akron Aeros’ longest win streak of the season with a 7-2 victory Saturday afternoon. Akron’s loss evened the series at 1-1, with one more game to play in Binghamton.

Akron took the first game of the series on Friday night with a 4-0 win over the Binghamton Mets, winning their third game in a row. The Mets offense was no match for the Aeros pitching, while Akron took advantage of a weak mound for Binghamton.

While the big league team was rained out, the Indians took three out of four games in the minor league circuit on Friday night. The two biggest highlights of the night came from Columbus where starter T.J. House was impressive in his Triple-A debut and Yan Gomes settled back into his everyday catching duties and raked.

The Cleveland Indians announced Friday morning that Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco suffered a deep contusion to his right elbow and forearm after being hit with a line drive on Thursday night. He is listed as day to day.

It's always good to see your first round picks leading the way down on the farm. Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor played pivotal roles in leading the Carolina Mudcats Thursday, flashing the potential that makes them both top prospects in the organization. You never want to see players hurt, however, and Cleveland saw two of their better pitchers injured in Columbus. To help make sense of all that went on, join Andrew Zajac, as he goes Around The Farm...

In this week’s second edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the hot start that Akron first baseman Chun Chen is off to, what has changed with his approach, and when he may get to Columbus (or Cleveland). He also has a ton of comments from the front office regarding the Columbus roster on things such as the presence of so many six-year free agents as well as the plans for Carlos Carrasco and others. Finally, he touches on the return of Austin Adams and Trey Haley, the release of Delvi Cid and who may be replacing him, the blistering bat of Jerrud Sabourin, the potential of Dylan Baker and much more.

Wednesday night was a cold and wet one in Northeast Ohio, as anyone who braved the weather to catch a ballgame can attest. Despite this, a few players found a way to overcome the weather, including Akron designated hitter Chun Chen, Columbus starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, and others. Jim Piascik was one of those who froze last night (as he watched the Aeros hold on to a 5-4 victory) and he will recap the night in the minor leagues as he takes you Around The Farm.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!